The Power | ||
Te/The Science of the Essence | ||
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Te (day)
If you consider a dog...
The indefinable essence of the dog is what we refer to as 'the
Tao'.
The characteristics of the dogs nature are 'te'.
They are considered to be the dogs virtue.
They are the substance of
the dog. What makes a dog a dog and not a cat.
Virtue
The virtues of a dog are what makes a dog a dog, and should not be confused
with temperament or personality. A dog is seen as being powerful because its
behaviour is consistent with being a dog.
Being what you are is the source of strength. If a dog behaved like a cat,
it would reflect an inner confusion and lead to problems.
Conduct
Another way of understanding virtue is 'conduct'. It may be seen as what a
person is required to do in order to be in accord with the Tao, and with the
innate 'humanness' of our species.
Animals are naturally in accord with their own nature, whereas humans are
tainted by thought, and by reasoning. Humans must unlearn.
Only by shedding what you think is right and wrong can you begin to develop
a harmonious relationship with existence.
Bonseki
Zen originated in China (Chan Buddhism) and flourished
in Japan. With it came the appreciation of virtue. The skill of the Japanese
made virtue an art form.
From tea ceremony to the costumes of samurai, the understanding of virtue
can be seen. Some Zen people seek out rocks that look more like a rock than
other rocks...
They want nothing contrived or manmade; a natural rock that demonstrates the
virtue of being a rock. The rock must be mossy and rock-like.
This appreciation cannot be accomplished through thought or contrivance; it
requires a state of mind that is not measuring, comparing or calculating.
Is-ness
The appreciation of virtue has long been applied to people. Dance and
fashion make use of virtue constantly. The femaleness of women can be
accentuated by costume and poise.
A flamenco dancer represents femininity, passion, elegance and strength.
There is nothing masculine about the expression, body language, voice and
mannerisms.
By expressing the characteristics of woman-ness, the dancer is true to her
nature.
Being
Self-consciousness prevents people from acting in accord with their own
nature, and virtue is lost. Consider the flamenco dancer example? There must
be a total immersion in the event itself.
The divide between the dance and the dancer must cease to exist; they must
become one: a joining of femaleness and physical expression.
It is the dancers femininity and passion that makes the flamenco the
flamenco.
Differences
In Taoism, men and women are seen as uniquely
different. The yin/yang symbol represents the balancing of these
differences; the perfect harmony of opposites.
Women are yin and men are yang; each has attributes unique and specific to
their own sex.
These were never intended to be clichés or cultural gender stereotypes; they
arose through observation rather than thought. Yin and yang are equal, yet
different to one another.
Power
The power, the virtue of the female is found in being a woman; rather than
emulating the characteristics of a man. Hence, a woman is balanced by being
womanly.
Masculinity of manner or dress is seen as discordant with the essence of a
woman. The same principle applies to men.
You cannot be other than what you are, and any attempt to change your innate
qualities is considered futile. Taoism sees strength in being true to what
you are, in following your own nature.
Wu wei
Te is part of wu wei; going with the flow. Wu wei explores how power can be
gained by keeping to the grain rather than going against it.
When travelling in water, it is simpler to be carried along than to fight
the current. A bird uses the currents in the air. A sea creature
rides the currents of the ocean.
By according themselves with what is happening they move more quickly and
easily. Not using te is akin to swimming against the current. It is tiring
and energetically uneconomical.
The wise person does not force anything, they borrow strength
from the event and move
with ease.
Skill
In Taoism, people seek to take this one step further by asking what they can
do to capitalise upon the virtue. What can they do to improve their
harmony with the flow?
In water, it might mean using a sail. With people, it could be attire or a
consideration of posture and speech. The art of feng shui specialises in
this skill.
Virtue/power is not an active process that
imposes but a passive one that permits.
(Ray Grigg)
Power
to use
Te is a power that you can use but cannot keep. It is
not something that adds to you.
It is not like body building where lifting weights will lead to larger
muscles.
Te works in a very different way.
By letting things go their natural way, we can use power. But we do not
have/own the power.
Blocking
Consider: a person swings a punch at you and you block it. The incoming
kinetic energy is lost and the impact is jarring. Having blocked, either
person is now free to make the next move.
Blending
By contrast, if you move out of the way of the punch, either by stepping or
within your stance, the kinetic force is not impeded.
If you make sympathetic contact, softly meeting the incoming force and
gently re-direct it - along the path it is already taking - there is no
block, no stopping, no jarring.
You can in fact neutralise the punch with no more effort than it takes to
press a key on a keyboard.
Neutralising
To neutralise the punch you employed yielding and 4 ounces of pressure. But
you personally have demonstrated no power. You have used the physics of the
situation to your advantage.
Hence, you have not built/developed/accomplished anything - you have simply
accorded yourself appropriately with what was happening. This is 'te'.
Using strength
This Zen story perfectly expresses te:
Kung Yi-tsu was famous for his strength.
King Hsuan of Chou went to call on him with full ceremony,
but when he got there, he found that Kung was a weakling.
The king asked, "How strong are you?"
Kung replied, "I can break the waist of a spring insect,
I can bear the wing of an autumn cicada."
The king flushed and said,
"I'm strong enough to tear apart rhinoceros hide and drag nine oxen by the
tail
- yet I still lament my weakness.
How can it be that you are so famous for strength?"
Kung replied, "My fame is not for having such strength,
it is for being able to use such strength."
(Zen story/David Schiller)
There is a significant difference between the two qualities he
mentions: having and using are not the same thing.
The Wang treatise from
The Tai Chi Classics asks how a
weak old man can defeat younger attackers. Wang
indicates that it cannot be due to strength and speed. How is this feat
accomplished? Te.
No te
It is extremely common for beginners to demonstrate no understanding of te
at all. The most obvious fault is forcing.
Rather than let the reeling silk undulation wave do the work, the student
uses brute force. This may be fine in an external class, but in tai chi it
is clumsy.
Natural power
Only an inexperienced tai chi person uses strength rather than jing. Jing is
akin to the ocean tossing a boulder. The water uses no strength. It just
undulates. The kinetic motion does all the work. This is te.
Martial arts uniform
A new starter in any martial art loathes wearing a new-looking suit because
its new appearance echoes their own inexperience. They seek to make the
outfit look worn-in and used.
If an instructor wore a new uniform, the uniform would look fine. It is not
the uniform that is the issue, it is the individual.
An instructor carries themselves in a particular way - irrespective of
attire - and a new starter cannot emulate this. Again, this is 'te'.
Cultivating virtues
The word 'virtue' can also refer to high standards of conduct/behaviour.
According to the book Rapt, psychology studies have identified 6 qualities
that are very much worth cultivating: wisdom, courage, temperance
(moderation, self-restraint), justice, humanity (love) and transcendence (go
beyond limitations, to climb).
These virtues are associated with wellbeing, strength of character and good
mental health. The aim is to become aware of positive virtues and
deliberately work to make them habitual.
This actually ties in very nicely with Tao Te Ching and tai chi; since a
prevalent Taoist theme is that only specific approaches/methods will be
successful. The way of the Tao is not any old way.
Page created
18 March 1997
Last updated
16 June 2023
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